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How does it get power?

The only power that a wing needs is to be moved forward through the air. In a glider the wing is

either pushed to get it started, or it is brought somewhere high up and dropped, like a hang gliderpilot starting from the top of a cliff. In a powered airplane, the engines either push or pull the

wings through the air.

The shape and positioning of a wing is very important. Most wings are curved, which makes the

air going over them go faster than the air going under them. Because the air above the wing

moves faster, it is more spread out than the air below the wing. Air presses on everything aroundit, even though you can't feel it. When there is more air it pushes more on the things around it.

The fast-moving, spread-out air over the top of the wing lets the air on the bottom of the wing

push the wing up, creating lift.

Another way to think of it is that the wing of an airplane is usually tilted so that the front is

higher than the back. The air that follows the upper and lower surfaces of the wing is directed

downward by the wing's shape and tilt. This creates an opposing upward lifting force on the wingitself. It is the lift from the wings that carries a plane through the air.

How dangerous is it?

Airplane wings are not dangerous. Airplanes themselves have a good safety record when they are

well maintained and handled. Wings are as dangerous as any fast moving object can be and sodepends also on the material it is made. First planes were made of very flimsy material because

of weight and wings strength evolved accordingly to the speed requirements, the faster the plane

the stronger the material must be.

What does it do?

A commercial airplane landing. The flaps on the trailing edge of the wing are fully extended inlanding position.

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A wing is a part of airplane that lifts it up. There are mainly four forces acting on airplane while

in air. Wings provide the force to the airplane that takes it up against the force of gravity due to

earth. An airplane wing is specially designed so that air that passes around it actually helps lift upthe plane. It is also streamlined in shape so that the plane can move at maximum speed.

The horizontal 'front' or 'leading edge' splits the air so that the airstream over the top of the winghas to travel further than the airstream beneath the wing. When the two streams meet again at the

'trailing edge' the upper airstream has been stretched and the lower airstream has been

compressed. The wing tries to equalize the air pressure above and below by moving up, but ofcourse it can not move upwards without also lifting the airplane!

Flaps (green) are used to increase the wing area and to increase the lift. Spoilers(red) increase the

turbulence to cause 'drag', flaps and spoilers maximize drag and minimize lift while landing.

Flaps can also increase lift during take-off, while the airplane speed is increasing

The reason an airplane is so called is because each wing provides two flat surfaces or planeswhich are joined by a thick, almost semicircular leading edge, and which meet at the sharp

trailing edge. Because they split the air wings are properly called Aero-planes or (mostly in the

USA) airplanes. Helicopter blades and propellers also technically possess 'airplanes' but todayfor most people who are not aviation specialists or 'aerodynamicists' the term simply means thecomplete 'fixed wing aircraft'

Wing shape can be modified to increase or decrease lift using flaps and ailerons

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